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"How disruptive it is going to be remains to be seen," Mr Tillerson said, adding he had spoken to his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir two days ago.

'NOT REALLY ARRESTS'

"It is my understanding that they are characterising these as not really arrests at this point, but they are presenting people with evidence of what they think the wrongdoing is to see if there is a willingness to want to make things right.

"So how they choose to deal with it at this point is still a bit unclear, but I would not want to read more than what we know at this point."

The investigation has spread to the neighbouring United Arab Emirates (UAE), the central bank has asked commercial banks and finance companies to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis, commercial bankers told Reuters.

The UAE, particularly Dubai, is one of the main places where wealthy Saudis park their money abroad.

In addition to bank accounts, they buy luxury apartments and villas in Dubai and invest in the emirate's volatile stock market.

Some wealthy Saudis have been liquidating assets within Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf countries this week, apparently in an effort to move money out of the region and escape the crackdown, private bankers and fund managers said.